67th of Summer 515 AV
Early Evening
It was a great relief as the monolithic walls of Riverfall came into view. The sun was nearing the horizon as Zephari stepped over the lightly forested hill near Riverfall. She had set out on this trek in the young hours of the morning, with the expectation of it simply being a hiking trip to explore more around the outskirts of the great planes that surround the city.
But it had turned out to be way more, and she was only now just getting back towards the city. She had taken a route that seemed like an easy walk, and it was. It followed a creek moving south away from the river in the direction of the Sea of Grass, rather than the coast. Zephari was not someone who had a good sense of time or distance, and she without realizing it ended up hiking all the way until mid day, which put her out of sight of the city, and very near the edge of the great plains.
It was here that Zephari took to exploring her surrounding in more detail. It was very sparsely forested, only a few trees here and there with a few shrubs. The tall grass was bleeding into this part of the forest from the sea of grass, making a strange hybrid zone. Most of the plant life was still largely greenish, though it was starting to turn brown as the year drew closer to fall.
The creek it's self was pretty small, only about four feet wide, and no more than a hand's length deep. The banks of the creek where pretty heavily eroded by the rained that had happened during spring, and so they had a lot of exposed rock. Zephari took this as a great opportunity to do some prospecting. The silt made for hard digging, but it resulted in several odd finds, varying from simply quartz, to odd orange crystals that Zephari did not recognize. Just as the sun was starting to slowly dip, no longer sitting at it's apex, Zephari had an accident. While trying to move a large boulder, she slipped on the slick mud and silt that made up the bottom of the creek, her bare feet not providing much grip. Her right knee connected hard with a rock hidden under the silt, bruising and scraping it.
This wasn't exactly a new experience for Zephari. She had skinned her knees and skins a thousand times before while clambering over rocks and walls while prospecting. She was able to just sit on the side of the creek for several chimes, letting the wound bleed it's self clean, and let the pain subside. Once the pain was gone, she was able to move the boulder, and discovered a wonderful small emerald, about half the size of her pointer finger. Emeralds were one of the Benshira's favorite crystals, so she put in just over two bells getting it out of the boulder. It was a very nice crystal, small as it was. It would bring a good price should she decide to sell it, ten gold mizas at the least.
Despite wanting to look for more, knowing that crystals tended to grow in groups, the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Packing up, her backpack now slightly heavy with fourteen or fifteen pounds of rocks and crystals, she started to head back downstream.
But she did not make it far before being stopped dead by a dreadful sight. A small pack of glassbeaks was drinking from the creek five or so hundred feet downstream from Zephari. Her known route back was blocked by one of the most dangerous creatures in the area. She immediately turned away from the creek, heading towards the coast, and away from Riverfall. Her pace was fast, fueled by fear. She had heard many stories from the Akalaks of the brutal power and strength of the glassbeaks, so she wanted to put as much distance between herself and them as she could before bending her course back towards the city.
She was eventually able to start making her way northward. Unfortunately she had to contend with the cliffs that made up the coast of Cyphrus. Her route was forced to zigzag back and forth to get around the landscape, forcing the journey to drag on late into the day. As she neared the city, her leg was beginning to hurt, the bruising to her right knee making it stiff and difficult to keep her pace from degrading into a slog.
But she did eventually come into view of the city. She let out an audible sigh, and let her shoulders relax, her bag feeling like it weighed a ton on her back. She slowly stroke down the hill toward the gates, but was stopped by the sound of people approaching from behind her. The sound was somewhat metallic, as if the people where carrying metal tools. Turning around she was greeted by the sight of two men armed with short swords.
"What do you want?" she asked, her hand snapping to her pick instinctively. Adrenaline pumped through Zephari's tired body, knowing that there was reasonable chance this wasn't a friendly duo.
Early Evening
It was a great relief as the monolithic walls of Riverfall came into view. The sun was nearing the horizon as Zephari stepped over the lightly forested hill near Riverfall. She had set out on this trek in the young hours of the morning, with the expectation of it simply being a hiking trip to explore more around the outskirts of the great planes that surround the city.
But it had turned out to be way more, and she was only now just getting back towards the city. She had taken a route that seemed like an easy walk, and it was. It followed a creek moving south away from the river in the direction of the Sea of Grass, rather than the coast. Zephari was not someone who had a good sense of time or distance, and she without realizing it ended up hiking all the way until mid day, which put her out of sight of the city, and very near the edge of the great plains.
It was here that Zephari took to exploring her surrounding in more detail. It was very sparsely forested, only a few trees here and there with a few shrubs. The tall grass was bleeding into this part of the forest from the sea of grass, making a strange hybrid zone. Most of the plant life was still largely greenish, though it was starting to turn brown as the year drew closer to fall.
The creek it's self was pretty small, only about four feet wide, and no more than a hand's length deep. The banks of the creek where pretty heavily eroded by the rained that had happened during spring, and so they had a lot of exposed rock. Zephari took this as a great opportunity to do some prospecting. The silt made for hard digging, but it resulted in several odd finds, varying from simply quartz, to odd orange crystals that Zephari did not recognize. Just as the sun was starting to slowly dip, no longer sitting at it's apex, Zephari had an accident. While trying to move a large boulder, she slipped on the slick mud and silt that made up the bottom of the creek, her bare feet not providing much grip. Her right knee connected hard with a rock hidden under the silt, bruising and scraping it.
This wasn't exactly a new experience for Zephari. She had skinned her knees and skins a thousand times before while clambering over rocks and walls while prospecting. She was able to just sit on the side of the creek for several chimes, letting the wound bleed it's self clean, and let the pain subside. Once the pain was gone, she was able to move the boulder, and discovered a wonderful small emerald, about half the size of her pointer finger. Emeralds were one of the Benshira's favorite crystals, so she put in just over two bells getting it out of the boulder. It was a very nice crystal, small as it was. It would bring a good price should she decide to sell it, ten gold mizas at the least.
Despite wanting to look for more, knowing that crystals tended to grow in groups, the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Packing up, her backpack now slightly heavy with fourteen or fifteen pounds of rocks and crystals, she started to head back downstream.
But she did not make it far before being stopped dead by a dreadful sight. A small pack of glassbeaks was drinking from the creek five or so hundred feet downstream from Zephari. Her known route back was blocked by one of the most dangerous creatures in the area. She immediately turned away from the creek, heading towards the coast, and away from Riverfall. Her pace was fast, fueled by fear. She had heard many stories from the Akalaks of the brutal power and strength of the glassbeaks, so she wanted to put as much distance between herself and them as she could before bending her course back towards the city.
She was eventually able to start making her way northward. Unfortunately she had to contend with the cliffs that made up the coast of Cyphrus. Her route was forced to zigzag back and forth to get around the landscape, forcing the journey to drag on late into the day. As she neared the city, her leg was beginning to hurt, the bruising to her right knee making it stiff and difficult to keep her pace from degrading into a slog.
But she did eventually come into view of the city. She let out an audible sigh, and let her shoulders relax, her bag feeling like it weighed a ton on her back. She slowly stroke down the hill toward the gates, but was stopped by the sound of people approaching from behind her. The sound was somewhat metallic, as if the people where carrying metal tools. Turning around she was greeted by the sight of two men armed with short swords.
"What do you want?" she asked, her hand snapping to her pick instinctively. Adrenaline pumped through Zephari's tired body, knowing that there was reasonable chance this wasn't a friendly duo.
